Paul Pogba has come ahead in defence of his former Manchester United teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic after accusations of racial abuse in the direction of Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku surfaced on Tuesday.
Ibrahimovic and Lukaku have been concerned in a heated conflict on the pitch throughout AC Milan’s Coppa Italia quarter-final in opposition to their metropolis rivals, which Inter ultimately gained 2-1, courtesy of a Christian Eriksen injury-time free-kick.
The 39-year-old journeyman scored the opener for AC Milan earlier than he was despatched off within the second half by referee Paolo Valeri for a second yellow card following a verbal confrontation with the Belgian target-man.
During the conflict, Ibrahimovic can reportedly be heard saying, “Go do your voodoo sh*t, you little donkey. Go do your voodoo sh*t. Call your mother!”
Meanwhile within the Milan Derby, Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a disagreement simply earlier than halftime. 👀pic.twitter.com/5IgR9Yypa3
— Kawowo Sports (@kawowosports) January 26, 2021
According to Football Italia, the “voodoo” feedback have been associated to a suggestion made prior to now by Everton proprietor Farhad Moshiri. Back in 2018, Lukaku had clarified that his determination to reject a brand new contract on the Merseyside membership didn’t have something to do with “voodoo”, following Moshiri’s suggestion.
After the Swede’s phrases have been referred to as racist by some, Pogba lent his assist.
“Zlatan… racist? He loves me too much so he’s the last person I’d think of as racist! Come on, don’t joke with that one!” the France midfielder mentioned.
Zlatan… racist? 🤨 He loves me an excessive amount of so he’s the final individual I’d consider as racist! Come on, don’t joke with that one! 🤣
— Paul Pogba (@paulpogba) January 27, 2021
Ibrahimovic too denied the claims with a submit on social media.
“In Zlatan’s world there is no place for racism! We are all the same race – we are all equal! We are players. Some better than others,” the Swede posted.
In ZLATAN’s world there is no such thing as a place for RACISM.We are all the identical race – we’re all equal !!We are all PLAYERS some higher then others.https://t.co/DhguHUOFte
— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official) January 27, 2021
Following Tuesday’s match, AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli mentioned Ibrahimovic “apologised to the dressing room” for letting his group down with the sending off.
Inter’s victory noticed them progress to the semi-finals of the Italian home cup competitors, the place they’ll face Juventus, who beat SPAL 4-0 on Wednesday evening.
